April 22, 2015 MEET CENTAL
WACO, Texas - For the 23rd time in the last 25 years, Baylor's track and field team will compete at the Drake Relays Thursday through Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.
BU is slated to have 17 men and 16 women in action over the three days of action. In the latest USTFCCCA rankings, the men are listed at No. 12, while the women are ninth.
The Baylor contingent will open up in Iowa with Jessica Purtell running in the unseeded 800-meter race at 4 p.m. Thursday. BU's men will then take part in the 4x1600-meter relay on Thursday evening at 5:05 p.m.
Friday action for BU will begin with the hurdlers running at 9:30 a.m., followed by the field events at 1 p.m. On Saturday, the triple jump kicks things off at 10 a.m. with the sprint medley relay opening the running events at 10 a.m.
This will be Baylor's second "relays" meet of the season, after competing at the Texas Relays in March. The Bears are set to have three relay teams on the women's side (4x100, sprint medley and distance medley), while the men will have five in action (4x100, 4x400, 4x1600, sprint medley and distance medley).
Last week at its second home meet of the season, the Bears racked up nine event wins at the Michael Johnson Classic, before rain forced the end of the meet with five events still to be completed.
Currently, Baylor has 14 performances that rank inside the top-20 in the NCAA for 2015.
On the men's side, sophomore Trayvon Bromell has the second fastest 100-meter time in the country at 9.90 and the 10th-fastest 200-meter mark at 20.56. Reigning Big 12 Athlete of the Week Bryce Grace is in ninth with a 110-hurdle mark of 13.70. Sophomore George Caddick ranks 13th in the quartermile with a time of 46.10. In the field events, Felix Obi has the fifth-best triple jump with a school-record leap of 53-3.5 [16.24m].
The men's 4x100-relay squad of Bromell, Kevin Harris, Grace and Bromell are the country's sixth-fastest quartet at 39.22. In the 4x400-meter relay, the foursome of Richard Gary, Harris, Brandon Moore and Caddick hold the country's fifth-best time of 3:05.26.
For the women, Tiffani McReynolds boasts the country's best mark in the 100-hurdles with a time of 12.75. Rachel Johnson is seventh in the country with a 10,000-meter school record of 33:11.98. Waco-product Annie Rhodes is tied for sixth in the pole vault with a school-record leap of 14-3.25 [4.35m]. Last week, Raena Rhone posted a 52.50 time in the 400 meters to be 12th nationally. Olicia Williams' school-record of time 2:03.32 also set at the Michael Johnson Classic is fifth-best in the country. Meanwhile Brianna Richardson is third in the triple jump, after a jump of 43-9.25 [13.34m] at the Texas Relays. In the shot put, Cion Hicks is tied for 10th with a PR throw of 54-9.25 [16.69m].
Last year at the Drake Relays, the women's squad took home the Hy-Vee Cup, which is given to the team with the best combined finishes in the five relay events, the 4x100, 4x400, 4x800, distance medley and sprint medley, at the meet.
After the Drake Relays meet, Baylor will again travel back to Austin, Texas, for its second meet in the state's capital. The Bears will compete in the Longhorn Invitational on Saturday, May 2.
For the latest information on the Baylor men's track team, follow the team on Twitter: @BaylorTrack.
